This invention relates to a mineral mining installation, and in particular to apparatus for controlling the position of a mineral mining machine, such as a plough, movable along a guide provided at the face-side of a conveyor.
One known form of such control apparatus utilises hydraulic advance rams and guide rod assemblies for advancing the conveyor (and the machine guide which is fixed thereto) towards the mineral face. Each guide rod assembly is associated with a respective mine roof support unit of a walking mine roof support assembly positioned along the goaf side of the conveyor. Each hydraulic advance ram is guided by its associated guide rod assembly and is backed by the respective roof support unit. Each guide rod assembly is pivotable in a plane perpendicular to that of the mineral face, and each is coupled to the conveyor by means of a respective hydraulic control ram. These hydraulic control rams are operable to tilt the conveyor (and hence the machine guide) thereby to control the cutting horizon of the mineral mining machine. Typical forms of known control apparatus are described in DT-OS No. 2,319,910, DT-OS No. 2,534,325 and DT-OS No. 2,101,454.
This type of control apparatus has proved quite successful in practice. Unfortunately, it suffers from the disadvantage that the conveyor has to take up all the forces exerted by the control rams and the advance rams. Consequently, the conveyor has to be considerably stronger than it would have to be merely to carry out its conveying function.
The aim of the invention is to provide control apparatus for a mineral mining installation which does not suffer from the disadvantage of the known type of control apparatus.